Many times parents involved in a custody battle come to us and want us to prove their spouse is unfit to care for their children. And many times, that is the case, but we don’t report false information so that custody can be awarded to one party or the other. All in Investigations only reports the facts. If you have been following our blogs, you know that we document our activity, we verify our information and we are constantly updating our software in our forensic field. We don’t for any reason report false information.
As a child custody investigator, it is imperative that our findings are reported as observed in a surveillance type investigation. Custody cases are delicate, the work conducted could possibly separate a child from a parent, therefore accurate reporting is essential and required from all our child custody investigators.
We begin with social media engineering to determine if there are any type of posting from the parent being investigated that could possibly endanger their child. Many individuals post their activities online without of activities that could be used against them.
Secondly, we conduct a background investigation, a criminal background investigation and civil litigations as either the plaintiff or defendant. This also includes a driving history. Are they constantly speeding, been pulled over for a DUI, do they have any tickets that would indicate proper child restraints.
If the party has moved out of the marital residence, we conduct an investigation on their new address; such as police runs in the area, are they are residing with someone that could endanger the children.
Surveillance is absolutely the key to any investigation with children involved. Is the parent spending time with them, are the being dropped off at a relative’s house, are they taking the child to an inappropriate location? These activities can be video documented along with still photos and a written report with the investigator willing to testify to any activity observed that would assist the court.
Then there are asset investigations that would indicate if the parent is being truthful with their reported income, should the court award custody and child support. Many times the parent who does not have custody will report false income to reduce the amount of child support awarded. This is not only illegal and unethical, it hurts the child(ren) and the custodial parent.
If you find yourself in a similar situation, get the facts before you make any false accusations against the other parent. And if our findings show positive results, the parent is being attentive, spending quality time with the children and show no signs of neglect or deception, then you can rest assured the kids are safe when they are not with you.
– Brenda McGinley, CEO, All in Investigations, All in Investigations
